Orig URL: 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090413/pl_afp/somaliaunrestpiracyuscongress_20090413160043
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Russsel Feingold, A leading US Democratic senator warned President Barack Obama Monday not to
neglect Somalia after the latest piracy incident off the country's coast and a mortar
attack on a US lawmaker.
"For years, Somalia's growing instability was neglected by the Bush administration and the international
community. The new administration must not make the same mistake," Democratic Senator Russell Feingold said.
"We must commit to a comprehensive strategy that helps stabilize the country while
also establishing effective governance and the rule of law," said Feingold, who leads
the Senate Foreign Relations' African
affairs subcommittee.
"If we don?t, we will continue to see Somalia's historic instability manifest
itself in piracy and growing extremism, both of which pose serious security threats in the region and around the
globe," he said.
Feingold, who reprsents Wisconsin, said he was "elated by the safe rescue" of
a US captain in a dramatic operation that saw naval snipers kill his captors after a
five-day standoff and "relieved" that Democratic Representative Donald Payne was unharmed after a
mortar attack at Mogadishu airport.
Payne, a member of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, arrived in Mogadishu hours earlier for talks with President
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his prime minister on rampant piracy off the country's coast.
A Somali pirate chief earlier
Monday threatened to target Americans in revenge for the rescue of Captain Richard
Phillips of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship.
Phillips was in good condition after being held hostage for five days in the lifeboat
from the Maersk Alabama, whose American crew had fought off the pirates' attempt to
capture it on Wednesday.
"While the episode involving the crew of the Maersk Alabama had a happy ending,
piracy off the coast of Somalia will assuredly continue since it is a symptom of the state
collapse in Somalia, which presents a
much greater and more dangerous problem," said Feingold.
